Compress image to 50 KB

Here is how the target is reached. First, the photo is encoded at high quality; if that fits, you are done. If not, we search between quality 95 and 30 for the best one that fits. If even 30 is too large, the image is scaled down by 15% at a time and the search repeats. At 50 KB a cropped portrait typically keeps a comfortable resolution and a decent quality setting.

50 KB means at most 50,000 bytes, which passes forms that count 1 KB as 1,024 bytes too.

Most often in Indian online applications: central and state recruitment exams, bank and insurance recruitment, railway and police recruitment, and many university and scholarship forms ask for a recent colour photo between about 20 and 50 KB. The signature usually has a separate, smaller limit. Similar limits turn up on some visa and ID portals and on college admission systems in other countries. Notices often add pixel dimensions (for example 200 × 230 px) or a white background requirement, so check the full photo specification, not just the KB number.

• Use a plain white or light background and even light from the front; shadows and busy backgrounds waste bytes.
• Crop to head and shoulders before compressing: fewer pixels of wall means more detail in the face.
• Use a recent photo without filters or beauty effects; many exam notices reject edited images.